Merit Medical Systems Inc. looks to ingest Pentax Medical’s C2 cryoballoon through a $22 million asset purchase expected to close Nov. 1. The C2 treats Barrett’s esophagus, which can be a precursor to esophageal cancer, as well as gastric antral vascular ectasia syndrome. The deal includes a $19 million cash payment at closing and up to $3 million in contingent milestone payments.

ISS became the third proxy advisory firm to recommend shareholders vote against the proposed sale of Staar Surgical Co. to Alcon AG, joining Glass, Lewis & Co. LLC and Egan-Jones Ratings Co.

Breaking up isn’t so hard to do, it seems. Just two years after spinning off its consumer products as Kenvue Inc., Johnson & Johnson aims to part ways with its orthopedics unit, which will take up the Depuy Synthes name first created when Synthes Inc. married into the J&J Depuy ortho unit in 2012 for a tidy sum of $19.7 billion. Depuy was itself acquired in 1998.

Private equity firm Keensight Capital acquired a majority stake in Bedfont Scientific Ltd. in a move that will allow the company to expand the use of its devices for breath analysis and monitoring worldwide. Although the value of the deal was undisclosed, Keensight typically invests in profitable companies generating revenues in the range of €10 million to €400 million.

Histosonics Inc. signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Gunze Medical Ltd. to bring its novel histotripsy-based therapeutic model, the Edison System, to Japan. The strategic alliance with Gunze Medical, a wholly owned subsidiary of Osaka, Japan-based Gunze Ltd., paves a figurative runway for Histosonics to introduce its Edison platform in Japan — one of Asia’s largest medical device markets.

Ottobock SE & Co. KGaA got the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on its feet and dancing with Germany’s largest IPO in more than 18 months Oct. 9. The €808 million (US$934.23 million) gave the prosthetics company a market capitalization of €4.2 billion (US$4.88 billion), which rapidly rose as the share price shot up from €66 to €72 at the start of trading. The second med-tech to go public in October should have more company soon, with U.S. molecular diagnostics company Billiontoone Inc. filing Oct. 7 for an IPO with placeholder value of $100 million.

Owens & Minor Inc. (O&M) is shedding its Products & Healthcare Services (P&HS) segment with an eye towards expanding its leadership position in the home-based care space. The company has agreed to sell its P&HS segment to Platinum Equity, a private equity firm. Platinum will pay $375 million in cash, while Richmond, Va.-based O&M retains a 5% equity stake in the business.

Like a scene from a movie, a British beauty influencer and a German disabled war veteran could provide just the spark that Europe needs to open its financial heart to med-tech companies in need of love and cash. The Beauty Tech Group, which sells a range of U.S. FDA-cleared aesthetics devices popular with global influencers, raised £106.5 million ($144 million) in an IPO Oct. 3 on the beleaguered London Stock Exchange.

Boston Scientific Corp. continues to prove out its strategy of active acquisitions combined with industry-leading organic growth with the closing of its $88 million acquisition of Elutia Inc.’s Bioenvelope business and very positive targets for growth presented during its investor day on Sept. 30.

Ernst & Young LLP didn't quite declare the patient cured but saw signs of a strong med-tech recovery after a few years on life support in its annual Pulse of the MedTech Industry report. The global accounting giant particularly called out strength in the cardiovascular, diabetes, robotics and orthopedics segments.